Watch My Back
by mellifluous aria
Summary: Remus and Sirius have an argument about the specifics of their relationship. Written for Round 5 of QLFC, Season 4.


A/N: I was a reserve for the Falmouth Falcons' Beater 2 for round 5 of the fourth season of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competiton. I was supposed to write a story with a Remus/Sirius pairing and my prompts were "Let's face it; this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing" (quote), "dangerous" (word), and "under lock and key" (phrase). The word count is 1182 (excluding the A/N).

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It was nearly midnight, and the halls of Hogwarts were silent, save for the scuffling sounds that Filch made as he skulked through the castle. His eyes and ears were alert for any sign of students breaking curfew. Unfortunately for him, Sirius Black was all too acquainted with the best hiding places to avoid detection by roaming authority figures, so the roguish Marauder managed to remain concealed from the wizened caretaker's hawkish gaze. When Filch turned a corner and disappeared from sight, Sirius quickly exited the cramped alcove he was crouching in, pulling a giggling Hufflepuff behind him.

"Where are we going?" the girl whispered, her pretty blue eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"You'll see," Sirius replied with a wink, appearing for all the world like a young man who was looking forward to a good midnight tryst. However, in his heart of hearts, there was someone else he would much rather be traipsing through the halls with—not that anyone knew about their secret relationship.

After making a few more turns through the hallways, they arrived at an abandoned classroom located far from the usual path that Filch took. With a whispered Alohamora, Sirius unlocked the door, and the two students darted inside. As soon as the door was closed, Sirius and the girl commenced snogging against the wall.

"Sirius Black!" A rather angry voice suddenly cut through the sound of the fervent mashing together of lips, and the two guilty parties jumped apart.

"Remus?" Sirius blinked a few times, slightly dazed.

"Uh, I think I'd better go, then…" the girl mumbled, blushing furiously at being caught by an upperclassman, before running out of the room.

Remus shut the door behind her and crossed his arms, his eyebrows drawn together. "What in Godric's name are you doing here?"

"I'd think that the answer to that question would be fairly obvious," Sirius replied with a smirk.

Remus merely glared in response.

Sighing, Sirius added, "Oh come on, Moony. Let's face it; this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing. Honestly, wasn't the time I snuck some slugs into that slimy Snivellus' cloak much more worthy of your whole 'I'm disappointed in you, Sirius Black' routine? Or what about when I—" Sirius broke off when he saw that Remus was still glaring, his eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight streaming through the windows.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute. I just realized something. You're not upset I'm out so late. You're just annoyed that I was with that girl!"

Remus spluttered, his frown replaced by a look of shock. "That is not true at all," he shot back, well aware that he was lying. "Do you realize that you could've gotten caught? It's dangerous to be out roaming the halls at night, especially for you. Filch is out for your head after that prank you pulled on Mrs. Norris, which, incidentally, you still haven't finished your detention for."

"Quit worrying so much about me, mate. It'll give you wrinkles."

Huffing, Remus sat down on a dusty desk. "I can't stop worrying about you," he muttered, staring at the floor.

Sirius opened his mouth to make a witty reply but ended up just sitting on the desk next to Remus, his gaze pensive.

"You know that all of that—the girl and everything—was just for show, right?" Sirius asked, his normally loud voice reduced to a near-whisper. "I…I don't fancy her or anything, y'know. I'm not even sure what her name is. You're the one I lo—" Sirius gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, and then finished his sentence. "—the one I like."

Remus frowned, unwilling to let Sirius be forgiven so easily, even though his heart made a peculiar sort of jump at his statement of affection.

"I mean, I do have a reputation to maintain," Sirius continued, attempting to mask his nervousness with a bit of bravado. "And you were the one who said that you wanted us to keep a low profile—to keep what's between us 'under lock and key', I think you termed it. What with those sodding purebloods and their backwards thinking."

"Yes, I suppose I did," Remus murmured. His gaze turned back toward his thoroughly worn-out shoes. "But that doesn't make me feel any better when I see you flirting and being so bloody charming with other people."

Sirius gaped. "Are you jealous?"

"No," Remus muttered, shifting away from the now-guffawing Gryffindor. "Hey, stop laughing at me, you git. How would you feel if I was all cozy with Lily or something?"

Sirius scoffed. "If you tried to even put your arm around her, I'd be betting on how long it would take for James to notice and go after you. I'd give him ten seconds, tops. Well, maybe twenty, since the match against Slytherin is in a week."

Remus scowled. "You're missing the point here, Sirius."

"All right, all right." Sirius held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I won't snog random girls in the hallway anymore, even if my reputation's at stake. Okay?"

Instead of replying, Remus just sighed, his lips pursed. Even Sirius, who rarely noticed the emotions of people around him, could see that he was upset.

"What is it, Moony?" Sirius elbowed his friend-but-also-more-than-a-friend in the side. "Why do you still look so, I dunno, sad?"

Remus didn't reply for several moments. Finally, after Sirius was about to explode from anxiety, the werewolf said, "I couldn't sleep very well tonight, because it's almost the full moon and all, and I was feeling funny, and when I woke up… you weren't there. And... I was worried you were out getting into trouble again, and you've gotten so many detentions this semester, so you really can't afford to get into any more shenanigans, and bloody hell, I just didn't like it when you're gone, okay?" After this outburst, Remus was rather out of breath, and then his cheeks turned slightly red when he realized exactly what he'd said. He hoped that Sirius couldn't see how distraught he was about his absence. When Sirius didn't reply, Remus hesitantly turned his head towards the one person he would walk through fire for—metaphorically speaking, of course—and suddenly, there was a pair of lips touching his and an arm around his neck. It was moments like these that made living worthwhile, he thought hazily.

When they broke away from each other, breathing heavily, Sirius said, "So are we good now? Will you stop worrying about me if I also promise to not leave in the middle of the night?"

Remus scoffed. "I doubt that anything will ever make me stop worrying about you." A beat later he added, "You'd have probably gotten expelled years ago if I wasn't watching your back all the time."

"I know," Sirius replied cheerfully, jumping off of the desk. "Although I think we both know that you don't just watch my back to keep me out of trouble." With that, he sauntered out of the classroom, leaving behind a sputtering Remus Lupin.


End file.
